I've been reading this thread start to finish for the last 3 days. Lots of urban legends, embellishments, pure BS, and some funny stuff that is real. Here's a factual story of dealer ripoff. 1963, I'm 22 and dumb, driving a very well abused '60 Plymouth sonoramic. See the new 427 Galaxie in a mag. article and HAVE TO HAVE ONE! Run up to the local small town dealer and put in my special order (at full retail) (told you I was dumb) and wait for delivery. The salesman is a slickster. Every day I'm at the dealership inquiring as to the status of my car. The salesman figures me out real quick and one day calls me on the phone and tells me Ford has raised the price on these cars and he supposes I will probably want to cancel, right? No way! I have to have this car, I'll pay the extra. (I told you I was dumb). So, the car gets there, I pay the price and am having a lot of fun. I am later informed that I got screwed by "tricky Dick" I was kinda pissed but then I found out that the transmission in my Plymouth blew up while Tricky Dick was driving it down to the auction. Sweet Justice!
To add to the above story, a few years later, I was working at that same dealership and one day this family pulls in to the shop in a pristine '59 Ford convertible. They are on vacation from out of state. Seems they had car trouble down the road a ways back and the garage where they stopped sold them a valve job. Now the car is making a rattling sound in the engine. I'm the parts guy so it's not my business, but I'm pretty convinced it is a case of the rocker stand bolts in the wrong holes (FE). The owner is trying to get them into a new car so I'm not going to risk my job by opening my mouth. They end up buying a new car and head out. I'm figuring on trying to buy the puppy and make a minor repair and flip it for a good profit. Unfortunately, the owner of the dealership is as savvy on FE's as I am and already has the whole thing figured out. They made some money that day.
And then there's the day a guy trades in a '62 Galaxie 406, 3X2, 4speed car. The salesman has a '32 coupe with a 312 in it . He pulls the 406 out and we drop it in the '32 and put the 312 in the '62 along with Fordomatic. Someone actually bought it and I never saw it again. When I had my 427, another guy had a 63 1/2 with a 406. One day we pull it in with the tow truck (repo) and the engine compartment is empty and there's a 292 in the trunk.
I don't remember if I shared this one, if I did I apologize. I was hired as the parts manager in a three line GM dealer in the Southwest late '79. After about a month the service manager quits. Son of the owner hires another tech as one left along with the service manager, they were pals from way back. New guy is a local backyard hack from what I hear around. When the new guy shows up with his tools in a hand carry box I knew that this was not going to end well. And he took them home each day with him too...... We got in a pickup truck on trade, needed the usual cleanup, oil change and tuneup but it did run pretty well for a six or seven year old truck. New guy gets it, his first job. Does the oil change. Ok so far. Tuneup, well now the fun begins. He wants a set of wires, cap, rotor, plugs points condenser and fuel filter. All handed out to him. After installing all of these it now will not start. Working on it all day. I have enough of my own mess to deal with, the previous parts manager was a pack rat, upon my arrival I was finding petrified food stashed in bins and coffee cups with mold cultures growing all over. He kept every flyer, jobber catalog sent in the last four years together with each old GM catalog all stashed in three parts bins while parts were sitting on the floor in piles...... So that afternoon the dealer's son asks me to look at the job as the "tech" tells him it will not start and the timing chain is bad. He said that something was not right, it drove fine before. I go out there, he already has the radiator out and the water pump off. I stop him before he pulled the timing cover off. He is now getting pissy with me telling me that I'm only a partsman and that he knows what he is doing. Politely I ask him if he verified the firing order when he replaced the cap and wires. I said "1-8-4-3-6-5-7-2, is that what you used?" He then tells me that firing order is always on the intake manifold and points to a number forward of the carburetor. "And that is what I used" he says. So looking at the number he pointed out I said "OK, two things, since when did Chevrolet make a seven cylinder engine and which cylinder is 9?" Number he pointed to was a casting number. He then storms off to the owner's son's office and quits. Says that nobody will listen to him especially that parts "guy". He packs up his tools and hand carried them out. Dealer's son calls me, tells me what happened and asks me to look at it. I rewire the plugs, guess what, it starts. Next day when the other tech came to work (he was off ill that day) he got a job ticket to reinstall water pump, power steering and radiator and finish the tune up.
Many years ago a friend, then in high school was pumping gas evenings at a GM store on the main drag in a small town that actually had gas pumps. Beautiful summer evening and one of our rich buddies [17 minute man] driving mom's shiny new Olds stops in to BS. Parked on the front row of the used car lot is an Olds which is the spitting image of mom's. So they dig up the keys and the guy riding shotgun rolls out of the lot with it, followed by mom's Olds. Just after a citizen pulls in for a tank full. Part way through the fill up he asks buddy #1, who is pumping the gas "what's that noise." You'll see, is the answer. Noise gets louder and louder and all is revealed when the 2 Oldsmobiles, side by side pass the station flat out. 17 MM later did a barrel roll with Mom's Olds. At least it never had any bullet holes in the trunk, unlike her Jag.
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